A study of culturally diverse materials in elementary school media centers

Our country is more culturally diverse today than at any other time in its history, therefore there is a need for greater understanding among people and awareness of other cultures. A prime time to develop this understanding and awareness is during the elementary school years. School library media specialists can be foremost in providing materials that facilitate learning about all cultures. This study examined the multicultural collections of four elementary school media centers within the Pleasantville School District. The study was conducted by examining the Online Public Access Catalog for the identified variables and then by conducting a visual search of the corresponding shelves. The results of this study indicated that these elementary school media collections did not provide an adequate amount of current materials representing cultures, other than the predominant culture of the neighborhood, to be of value in educating children about diverse cultures. The results also indicated that these media centers pursued collection development in accordance with the current trends of providing an abundance of materials related to the predominant neighborhood culture or ethnicity

A eukaryote assemblage intercalated with Marinoan glacial deposits in South Australia

Video of digital X-ray tomographs (µCT) in longitudinal plane through cylinder of siltstone, maximum diameter seen (left to right when viewing movie) is 5.4m

The interaction between transpolar arcs and cusp spots

Transpolar arcs and cusp spots are both auroral phenomena which occur when the interplanetary magnetic field is northward. Transpolar arcs are associated with magnetic reconnection in the magnetotail, which closes magnetic flux and results in a "wedge" of closed flux which remains trapped, embedded in the magnetotail lobe. The cusp spot is an indicator of lobe reconnection at the high-latitude magnetopause; in its simplest case, lobe reconnection redistributes open flux without resulting in any net change in the open flux content of the magnetosphere. We present observations of the two phenomena interacting--i.e., a transpolar arc intersecting a cusp spot during part of its lifetime. The significance of this observation is that lobe reconnection can have the effect of opening closed magnetotail flux. We argue that such events should not be rare

Weight change and sulfonylurea therapy are related to 3 year change in microvascular function in people with type 2 diabetes

Aims/hypothesis: Although cardiovascular disease is the biggest cause of death in people with diabetes, microvascular complications have a significant impact on quality of life and financial burden of the disease. Little is known about the progression of microvascular dysfunction in the early stages of type 2 diabetes before the occurrence of clinically apparent complications. We aimed to explore the determinants of endothelial-dependent and -independent microvascular function progression over a 3 year period, in people with and without both diabetes and few clinical microvascular complications. Methods: Demographics were collected in 154 participants with type 2 diabetes and in a further 99 participants without type 2 diabetes. Skin microvascular endothelium-dependent response to iontophoresis of acetylcholine and endothelium-independent responses to sodium nitroprusside were measured using laser Doppler fluximetry. All assessments were repeated 3 years later. Results: People with type 2 diabetes had impaired endothelial-dependent microvascular response compared with those without (AUC 93.9 [95% CI 88.1, 99.4] vs 111.9 [102.3, 121.4] arbitrary units [AU] × min, p < 0.001, for those with vs without diabetes, respectively). Similarly, endothelial-independent responses were attenuated in those with diabetes (63.2 [59.2, 67.2] vs 75.1 [67.8, 82.4] AU × min, respectively, p = 0.002). Mean microvascular function declined over 3 years in both groups to a similar degree (pinteraction 0.74 for response to acetylcholine and 0.69 for response to sodium nitroprusside). In those with diabetes, use of sulfonylurea was associated with greater decline (p = 0.022 after adjustment for co-prescriptions, change in HbA1c and weight), whereas improving glycaemic control was associated with less decline of endothelial-dependent microvascular function (p = 0.03). Otherwise, the determinants of microvascular decline were similar in those with and without diabetes. The principal determinant of change in microvascular function in the whole population was weight change over 3 years, such that those that lost ≥5% weight had very little decline in either endothelial-dependent or -independent function compared with those that were weight stable, whereas those who gained weight had a greater decline in function (change in endothelial-dependent function was 1.2 [95% CI -13.2, 15.7] AU × min in those who lost weight; -15.8 [-10.5, -21.0] AU × min in those with stable weight; and -37.8 [-19.4, -56.2] AU × min in those with weight gain; ptrend < 0.001). This association of weight change with change in endothelial function was driven by people with diabetes; in people without diabetes, the relationship was nonsignificant. Conclusions/interpretation: Over 3 years, physiological change in weight was the greatest predictor of change in microvascular function.This article is freely available via Open Access. Click on the Publisher URL to access it via the publisher's site.This work was supported by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (the SUMMIT consortium, IMI-2008/115006).published version, accepted version (12 month embargo

Tidal dynamics drive ooid formation in the Capricorn Channel since the Last Glacial Maximum

Relative sea-level changes can dramatically alter coastal geomorphology and coastlines, which, in turn, can fundamentally alter tidal regimes. The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) has undergone around 120 m of relative sea level (RSL) rise since the Last Glacial Maximum, ∼20,000 years ago (ka). Ooid grains (sand sized carbonate sediment) that formed in shallow water (>5 m depth) and under prolonged hydrodynamics forcing are now found at depth ranging between 100 and 120 m under the present day GBR Gulf of Capricorn. The apparent inconsistency between preferential conditions for their formation and the actual environment where they are found at present-day could be used to infer past regional hydrodynamic conditions. Here, we focus on the regional changes in the GBR tidal dynamics over the last 16.8 ka to show that sea-level rise on the GBR has caused significant changes on tidal patterns and dynamics. To do so, we used the first multi-scale palaeo-tidal finite element coastal tidal model of the GBR over five time slices (present day, ∼10 ka, ∼12 ka, ∼15 ka and 16.8 ka), representing the position of RSL at 0 m, 20 m, 45 m, 75 m and 96 m below present. We show that favourable conditions for ooid formation only existed for a short period of time between 16.8 and 11 ka. At that time, the Gulf of Capricorn was a wide shallow shelf with strong currents constantly agitating grains, providing rapid burial, exposure and re-burial cycles. We show that these conditions only existed for a short period of time and hence explain the presence of ooid grain formation in the GBR at that time. We propose ooids formed within the Capricorn Channel at a time of lower RSL than expected and then underwent sub-tidal transportation to their final deposition place via tidal currents, explaining the inconsistency with their age and the depth at which they were found

Metallicity Estimation of Core-Collapse Supernova HII Regions in Galaxies within 30 Mpc

This work presents measurements of the local HII environment metallicities of corecollapse supernovae (SNe) within a luminosity distance of 30 Mpc. 76 targets were observed at the Isaac Newton Telescope and environment metallicities could be measured for 65 targets using the N2 and O3N2 strong emission line method. The cumulative distribution functions (CDFs) of the environment metallicities of Type Ib and Ic SNe tend to higher metallicity than Type IIP, however Type Ic are also present at lower metallicities whereas Type Ib are not. The Type Ib frequency distribution is narrower (standard deviation ∼0.06 dex) than the Ic and IIP distributions (∼0.15 dex) giving some evidence for a significant fraction of single massive progenitor stars; the low metallicity of Type Ic suggests a significant fraction of compact binary progenitors. However, both the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and the Anderson-Darling test indicate no statistical significance for a difference in the local metallicities of the three SN types. Monte-Carlo simulations reveal a strong sensitivity of these tests to the uncertainties of the derived metallicities. Given the uncertainties of the strong emission methods, the applicability of the tests seems limited. We extended our analysis with the data of the Type Ib/Ic/IIP SN sample from Galbany et al. (2018). The CDFs created with their sample confirm our CDFs very well. The statistical tests, combining our sample and the Galbany et al. (2018) sample, indicate a significant difference between Type Ib and Type IIP with <5% probability that they are drawn from the same parent population

Nearshore euxinia in the photic zone of an ancient sea:Part II – The bigger picture and implications for understanding ocean anoxia

Biomarker, palaeontological and isotopic evidence suggests that the Late Permian carbonate seas, i.e. the Northern (NPB) and Southern (SPB) Permian basins of northern Pangea, were characterized by significant spatial and temporal variations in the palaeowater-column redox state. This is particularly the case with regard to the deposition of the Lopingian Zechstein cycle 2 carbonate rocks. A shelf to basin reconstruction of environmental conditions was achieved by analysing nearly 400 core samples from 49 wells. This allowed an evaluation of the spatial variations in facies and broad oceanographic conditions at the basin scale. Specifically, in the lower slope and shallow-basin facies of the northern margin of the SPB (present-day northern Poland and eastern Germany), highly variable concentrations of the green sulphur bacterial biomarkers chlorobactane and isorenieratane (and their likely degradation products, C15 to C31 2,3,6-aryl isoprenoids, indicative of photic zone euxinia) and homohopane indices (indicative of anoxia), combined with the presence of a benthic fauna and bioturbation, indicate a variable but occasionally anoxic/euxinic water column. Locally in lagoonal facies in the northern and southern margin of the SPB, euxinic conditions also developed but these were likely associated with localised conditions or benthic production in association with microbialites. The presence of gammacerane in the eastern SPB (south-eastern Germany and eastern Poland) suggests elevated salinities there, compatible with the restricted configuration of the basin. However, a lack of these signatures in basinal settings of the eastern SPB indicates that strongly reducing conditions were restricted to the lower slope and shallow-basin locations and restricted lagoons, and were not developed in the basin centre. Moreover, this anoxia/euxinia in marginal settings is restricted to the north-eastern part of the SPB. The south-eastern part of the SPB (SE Poland), in contrast, is devoid of evidence for PZE. The southern margin of the SPB is also characterized by generally oxic-suboxic conditions, with local anoxia limited to more restricted embayments, and elevated salinities limited to restricted oxic-anoxic lagoons. In the western SPB (NE England and adjacent offshore) and the NPB (Outer Moray Firth, offshore Scotland) the water columns were oxic-suboxic. Overall, it appears that high but episodic primary bioproductivity of organic matter was concentrated on (or even limited to) the lower slopes of the SPB's north-eastern margin and the restricted lagoons and shallow basin of its southern margin, leading to the formation of source rocks for petroleum in these areas. In addition, the temporal and geographical restriction of anoxia appears to have prevented the accumulation of large and more widespread quantities of organic matter; in fact TOC contents exhibit a poor correlation with ecological and anoxia indicators. Crucially, this work confirms that the strong evidence for PZE observed in shelf and lower slope/shallow-basin facies of the north-eastern SPB need not be associated with widespread, basin-scale anoxia; this conclusion has implications for organic matter burial, carbon cycling and biotic crises during other times in Earth history

Reservoir-Excess Pressure Parameters Independently Predict Cardiovascular Events in Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes

The parameters derived from reservoir-excess pressure analysis (RPA) have prognostic utility in several populations. However, evidence in type 2 diabetes (T2DM) remains scarce. We determined if these parameters were associated with T2DM, and whether they would predict cardiovascular events in individuals with T2DM.We studied 306people with T2DM and cardiovascular disease (CVD)(DMCVD:70.4±7.8yrs), 348people with T2DM but without CVD (DM:67.7±8.4yrs) and 178peoplewithout T2DM or CVD (CTRL:67.2±8.9yrs). RPA-derived parameters including reservoir pressure integral (INTPR), peak reservoir pressure (MAXPR), excess pressure integral (INTXSP), systolic rate constant (SRC) and diastolic rate constant (DRC) were obtained by radial artery tonometry. INTPR was lower in DMCVD and DM than CTRL. MAXPR was lower, and INTXSP was greater in DMCVD than DM and CTRL. SRC was lower in a stepwise manner among groups(DMCVD&lt;DM&lt;CTRL).DRC was greater in DMCVD than CTRL. In the sub group of individuals with T2DM (n=642), 14 deaths (6 cardiovascular and 9non-cardiovascular causes) and 108cardiovascular events occurred during a 3-yr follow-up period. Logistic regression analysis revealed that INTPR [odds ratio 0.59(95%CI:0.45-0.79)] and DRC [odds ratio 1.60(95%CI:1.25-2.06)] were independent predictors of cardiovascular events during follow-up after adjusting for conventional risk factors(both p&lt;0.001). Further adjustments for potential confounders had no influence on associations. These findings demonstrate that altered RPA-derived parameters are associated with T2DM. Furthermore, baseline values of INTPR and DRC independently predict cardiovascular events in individuals with T2DM, indicating the potential clinical utility of these parameters for risk stratification in T2DM

Process evaluation and exploration of telehealth in motor neuron disease in a UK specialist centre

Objectives To evaluate the processes involved in using a novel digitally enabled healthcare system (telehealth in motor neuron disease (TiM)) in people living with motor neuron disease (MND) and their informal carers. We examined TiM implementation, potential mechanisms of impact and contextual factors that might influence TiM implementation or impact. Design An 18-month, single-centre process evaluation within a randomised, pilot and feasibility study. Intervention TiM plus usual care versus usual care alone. Setting A specialist UK MND care centre. Participants 40 patients with MND and 37 primary informal carers. Primary and secondary outcome measures Patient, carer and staff outcomes and experiences using semistructured interviews. Descriptive data on implementation and use of TiM. Results The TiM was acceptable and accessible to patients, carers and staff. Intervention uptake and adherence were good: 14 (70%) patients completed a TiM session at least fortnightly. Barriers to TiM use (such as technology experience and disability) were overcome with well-designed technology and face-to-face training. Reported potential benefits of TiM included improved communication and care coordination, reassurance, identification of complications and the potential for TiM to be an alternative or addition to clinic. Benefits depended on patients’ current level of needs or disability. The main challenges were the large number of alerts that were generated by TiM, how the clinicians responded to these alerts and the mismatch between patient/carer expectations and nurses actions. This could be improved by better communication systems and adjusting the alerts algorithm. Conclusion TiM has the potential to facilitate access to specialist care, but further iterative developments to the intervention and process evaluations of the TiM in different services are required

Discovery of new colonies by Sentinel2 reveals good and bad news for emperor

The distribution of emperor penguins is circumpolar, with 54 colony locations currently reported of which 50 are currently extant as of 2019. Here we report on eight newly discovered colonies and confirm the rediscovery of three breeding sites, only previously reported in the era before Very High Resolution satellite imagery was available, making a total of 61 breeding locations. This represents an increase of ~20% in the number of breeding sites, but, as most of the colonies appear to be small, they may only increase the total population by around 5–10%. The discoveries have been facilitated by the use of Sentinel2 satellite imagery, which has a higher resolution and more efficient search mechanism than the Landsat data previously used to search for colonies. The small size of these new colonies indicates that considerations of reproductive output in relation to metabolic rate during huddling is likely to be of interest. Some of the colonies exist in offshore habitats, something not previously reported for emperor penguins. Comparison with recent modelling results show that the geographic locations of all the newly found colonies are in areas likely to be highly vulnerable under business‐as‐usual greenhouse gas emissions scenarios, suggesting that population decreases for the species will be greater than previously thought